Medical Crisis

Shekhawat in distress

A medical emergency arose this morning when Shekhawat suddenly developed acute palpitation and breathlessness in the middle of the exercises and had to be rushed home in a serious state. His condition is said to have ‘stabilized’ since. According to his wife, he has been resisting a visit to the hospital as

Bijoy Gupta escorts Shekhawat in Arun Patil's car

he prefers to stay put at home.
The crisis occurred in the course of our free-hand exercises when Shekhawat, in typical playful manner, scampered around the circle vigorously flapping his arms out and in. All of a sudden he turned silent and withdrew to a bench at a distance under a tree. In five minutes, he appeared to be in deep distress. His breathing had become labored and he was unable to talk.
He was given water to drink and fortunately, it made a difference. He gathered the strength to walk up to another bench, but sat down again. That was when it was decided to send him home. Arun Patil volunteered to drive him down in his car and with Bijoy Gupta as escort, Shekhawat was taken to his doorstep and in the care of his wife.

Mallika Kagzi is back with her magic tea

That Shekhawat is a heart patient and had undergone a bypass surgery in mid-2013 is known to all. What is not so well known is that he suffers from an asthmatic condition also, for which he has to often resort to an inhaler and medication. The problem, it seems, gets aggravated during winter time. To compound matters further, he was running temperature since yesterday

Arun Patil gets some sage advice from
Yusuf Rasswala and Banoo Apa

and had come to the Garden with a sore throat this morning. His wife had advised him against taking chances and to better rest at home. But “he had turned a deaf ear” to her, she complained.
Against this grim backdrop, Mallika Kagzi brightened the atmosphere by infusing a sense of déjà vu with her hot, home-made tea served with a smile in white, styrofoam glasses – an experience we had been missing for ages. A confirmed ‘tea teetotaller’ like Kiran Prakash (who needs to be otherwise appeased with bottled Amul Kool) was seen asking for refills of Mallika’s prized tea.
And then there was Arun Patil being educated in confidence by Banoo Apa and Yusuf Rassiwala on why he should stop being rigid about enforcing discipline, or else be prepared to be nicknamed ‘Arun Kaitley’. “You don’t have to constantly behave like a kettle on the boil,” Banoo Apa advised.
Arun simply smiled, clearly flattered by the bizarre analogy.
Kiran Prakash:
Mallika's TEA may be tea for the commoner. For me, it is NECTAR. Unke haath mei JAADU hai.
Geeta Latte:
Get well soon, Shekhawat Uncle.